18 Crazy Nights

Clara Dawn has so many expressions. The lip pucker, the eyebrows raised, and even a little grin sometimes.

And now, a post about how things are going:

• First of all, I totally forgot how much newborns sleep (20 hours a day), poo (as soon as I put a new diaper on her), and cry. Basically, I forgot repressed everything about newborns.
• Secondly, I love blogging - I blog for you, my readers, my family, my friends... but I never considered "helping myself stay sane" as one of my reasons for blogging. In the last few days I have learned so much from going into my blog archives and reading my own thoughts from June 2009 when Ruby was born. I totally forgot that she used to cry from 9pm-2am most nights when she was first born. This realization has helped me cope with Clara's newborn tendencies.
• Last night around 1am after we had been dealing with Clara screaming her little lungs out since 10:30pm, Ryan and I disassembled the bassinet in our room, carried it down the hall and reassembled it in the living room. Yes friends, we let Clara "cry it out" last night for a LOOOOOOOONG time (37 minutes to be exact). I did check on her after 22 minutes to make sure she was okay. She was okay, just absolutely furious about the fact that we weren't holding her. It is amazing how much fury a tiny infant can create. I kept thinking she was on the verge of death from the fury within her little self. Luckily, she eventually puttered out and slept for a good 5 hours after that. Crying is good exercise for babies.
• They say that motherhood is when most women start losing their hearing - I could not agree more. I'm pretty sure I am more deaf today than I was yesterday. This morning I experienced survived a dual-meltdown. Clara was crying because she was fighting sleep - Ruby was crying because her blanket was in the washing machine. It was intense. I almost went outside and sat on the porch by myself...

And now for the good news!

• Late at night when I'm awake and feeding Clara, it helps me to think about my dear friends who are awake and feeding their babies too. Sandy, Molly, Bekah, Emily, Allison and really soon Jess, Bree, Sarah, and Brooke I love you all and love that you're with me in all of this!
• Babywise works. It worked with Ruby and it is going to work on Clara too. I feed her every 3 hours all day, then after her 10pm feeding she goes to sleep and I don't feed her again until she wakes up. So far, I've been able to sleep 4-5 hour stretches almost every night since we got home from the hospital. I am more rested than I would be if not for Babywise and I am thankful... don't get me wrong - I'm ridiculously exhausted, I am one of those people who typically would sleep 9-10 hours a night. I'm excited for the 8-week mark (July 1) when I can drop the nighttime feeding and switch from a 3 to a 4-hour feeding schedule. I remember feeling like a whole new woman at the 8-week mark with Ruby.

And now for some more good news!

• I got $182 worth of Pottery Barn Kids Pink Gingham curtains, twin bed skirt, and sparkly ornamental window hardware for $20 thanks to Craigs List. SAYIN'!! I'm so excited to put it all in Ruby's room when we get to Columbus.
• Also,I took both girls to Kohl's this morning and successfully got them both out of their car seats, into the stroller, into and out of the store, then back into their car seats all by myself. haha. a huge logistical success. I'm pumped.
• If you are still reading this, I applaud you.
• I was reading a really funny blog today about decisions on having more children... and I am actually excited about continuing to grow our little family. In spite of the somewhat sleepless shenanigans of the last 18 days, I love being a mom. 

I know these days go by so fast and suddenly there is an almost 2-year old thanking Jesus for her nose and for her paci during her prayers at night. On that note, I'm hoping to get the video camera going when Ryan puts Ruby to bed tonight because her prayers are seriously the best thing I've ever heard.

Here's to more crazy nights! Woohoo!